Facebook & Syphilis

Researcher finds correlation between Facebook use and syphilis infections.

Yesterday the Telegraph published a news story that linked Facebook usage with the rise in syphilis. The report cited Professor Peter Kelly, director of public health in Teesside, UK as finding that syphilis infections, especially in young women, have risen fourfold in the areas of Britain where Facebook is most popular.

The theory is that Facebook is giving a new avenue for promiscuous people to set up encounters. Kelly explained, "Social networking sites are making it easier for people to meet up for casual sex."

Much of the internet public lambasted such reports linking Facebook usage and syphilis for not making a clearer distinction between causation and correlation.

Today the Telegraph has published another piece with statements from Facebook, which believes that Professor Kelly's findings may have been misrepresented by the media.

"Today’s reports exaggerate the comments made by the professor, and ignore the difference between correlation and causation," said a spokesman. "Facebook is no more responsible for STD transmission than newspapers are responsible for bad vision."